Oh my gosh, I forgot!

The business of the job and everything that's been going on has totally made me forget that I do in fact have TWO blogs! As I've probably mentioned to you on MSN and stuff, it got very summery here during easter. It was warm, people were in shorts and t-shirts and then suddenly last weekend it started to get cold and it's been very chilly all week. Now it looks like summer is coming as the days are getting longer and warmer again...

Job has been going well, mostly. There are those odd days when it feels a bit like banging your head on the wall, but then on other days it's just sort of... flowing. I like being important and needed and being able to present some new ideas to some of my colleagues. I have no idea how it happened, but I feel as if I've somehow become the go-to girl when it comes to all things CODE. It's kind of cool and my inner geek has really been enjoying the hours and hours spent writing html and pondering the functions of CSS.


I can't wait to get my new computer... though I'm still sad that you had to send my old one over for nothing. I do hope you can maybe get it fixed or at least get some decent parts for it. Maybe you can sell them, when you're here. I'd be fine with that. The next 3 days are going to be hectic, with the opening tomorrow and my parents coming and all that. Resting is a distant dream when you're sharing your apartment with two pensioners who like to be up at the crack of dawn... Especially when you can't escape that since you're all pretty much stuck in one room.

I hope I can get the webcam working with the new computer soon. I need a new headset too, as we know... I'd like to find the time to "call" you with MSN or Skype at least a couple of times in a week. It's been too long since we did that.

Now I'm going to wrap this up and head to bed though, because I'm feeling as if I can't keep my eyes open anymore. I love you.

A pink thing

It's amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do. Suddenly the day is 10 times better. I know I'll complain about the hotness and the sun during summer, but spring sun is awesome and gives some hope that those ginormous piles of snow will eventually actually melt away and I can peel off my winter boots. As much as I love my boots, I could really do with some more breathable shoes again...

The day has been good, though busy. I'm taking a little break for some lemon yogurt at the moment, but just a quick one. I've learned a ton of new things, delegated a whole lot and met some new people and artists. One artist (who's fun works I love) came over today to bring some new drafts and cards for sale and I managed to get one adorable card (on the right, sorry about quality) for a discount! It's so cute and will fit my current colors at home perfectly. I also got a tip on where to buy some nice art supplies... And! I happened to mention how I've been buying stuff for my jewelry before so she asked if I had made what I was wearing and became interested. I was wearing the orange-white necklace and the orange earrings. She asked if I was selling my work anywhere and was wondering if maybe we could trade art for jewelry in the future! So cool. I wish I had my kit here so I could make more. I also wish I had time to really get into it more and learn maybe new techniques and such. I've never been very good at traditional arts, but jewelry I'm really interested in... and still, photography...

I wish I didn't have all those debts to worry about... then I could invest in art.

A flood of pictures

 Those herby potatoes you like too!

I made these on Wednesday.

Been eating a lot of grapes, while other fruit has been used for smoothies...

 Mom and dad came on Friday, as you know and mom decided to 

donate me (well, us) some of the Chinese things she brought from Peking!

Pooch's favorite place.

Big cows: 95,90 euros. Can you believe it?

I want that red one, mind you... Cow parade!

 

We went to Pyynikki today, you know that big forest-y hill I "hiked" around

last summer in my silly ballerina shoes...

We had some tea and Finland's best donuts.

We ate at my downstairs Nepalese restaurant today!

Top picture: Funky super thin bread

Middle: My chicken meal

Low: Naan bread (delicious!)

 Mommy bought me a little citrus tree and that nice white vase!

She also brought me that funky picture frame.

I wish you had been here and we could've celebrated your birthday properly in the process. I did make a pie and all! I miss you a lot. I'm just glad if you can come in August or so, you'll see we DO actually have a summer here and all. I'm hoping my lemons will get enough light, even though they'll be inside and I only get direct sunlight in the morning... also, during summer, as you know... this place gets verrrry warm and I will have to close the curtains or I'll roast!

A bit of pastels

 These two pictures I took on the day of my job interview.

Now, there's less snow and that shoreline has been digged up by

the city workers and I don't see ducks anymore.

 I've had dark pink tulips in my apartment.

And a dog in my bed, when I visited my parents.

 Last Friday, I bought pale pink tulips and "a smoothie maker".

I had to try a blueberry one first. You know how much I love blueberries.

 I also bought this little glass jar and couldn't decide where to put it at first or what to use it for.

Then, I realized it'd be perfect for colorful chocolate candy - "Easter Eggs".

Needless to say, these are long gone now.

But I also bought some hot pink and white ones, with a mint flavored shell.

They're now in it, but I have a feeling I have to buy new ones for the weekend...

Hibernate

Oops, it's been a week since I last blogged here. To be honest, I haven't been really motivated in terms of my Finnish blog either as of late. I've been in a bit of a hibernation mode, just hanging out at home, watching old episodes of ANTM and of course, the Dog Whisperer. You must be sick of me talking about that show aaaaall the time! It's just such brilliance - and inspiration.

I'm coping better with being alone now though, I don't feel as anxious as I did for the first couple of weeks here. Of course I do miss you and wish you were here, but I'm not feeling like I was not too long ago, practically bouncing off the walls, being miserable.

I'm so glad I got that job! Having a routine for the next 3,5 months is going to be great in the sense that it'll make the time go faster, which means that it won't seem like forever until you come here. I entertain myself with ideas of what we should do and where we should go when you come over. Of course it's going to be tight to begin with, but once you get settled and you're able to get a job and stuff, I think we'll have it good.

The weather here continues to be very fickle. Just today it was sunny when you first looked out of the window and then like 10 minutes later there was a full on snowstorm going on. I have no idea which jacket to take with me tomorrow when I'm going to go see the parents. I'm quite looking forward to going in the sense that I get to hang out with my other favorite male - the pooch. Just having him in the house makes me feel better. He's such a good dog.

I mentioned you about my sleepiness before, but yeah, I don't know if I've entered some kind of a hibernation mode, but especially the days with grey skies and snow, I'm just reaaaally tired all the time. I usually get like 7-8h of sleep in a night, which should be plenty, considering my days are generally not really full of activity right now. But I feel the urge to go nap really early and then I find it hard to just get up and be all perky. I tend to feel sleepy after the nap too, all the way until late into the evening - which is when I perk up and that's why my sleep schedule is all messed up right now. I guess I kinda know now what you've been doing for months; sleeping in short bits, never really getting your batteries full.

I think I'm going to try and go to sleep pretty soon now, as I do actually feel like I COULD sleep. <3

PS. The picture is a fence nearby where I'll be working, just lined up with gloves! I have no idea why, but it sure looks cool.

Winter is back

It had been springy here even before I got back. And this morning, this is what I saw when I looked out. The winter is back. Again. Ah, welcome to Finland. Our winters notoriously have some issues letting go, as they sometimes resurface even in May. Something to look forward to, huh?

I had really strange dreams last night, surreal, but realistic at the same time and I visited the future. I asked someone there what year it was and they said 2027. Let me tell you though, it wasn't a very bright-looking future...

Next up, I'm going to try to make my way through the snow to the store and hope there's no ice lurking underneath. To be honest, I'd almost rather curl up underneath the covers and sleep some more...

I'm sleepy

That's pretty much the first thing that came to mind.

How can I be sleepy? I slept until what... 11-something and I haven't done that much today except celebrated the fact that I got that job interview to go to next Monday. And yeah, I did do the grocery shopping... I've just been reaaally out of energy since I got home. Am I sleeping too much?

At first, I thought maybe it was all just jet lag. But after like a week or so, I don't think that's a valid excuse anymore. Especially when I've never in my life had a jet lag. Why start now? I think I've just generally been feeling a bit under the weather (or is that a British saying?) lately, having a cough that comes and goes, dry eyes, dry skin, tired... nose running. Blah.

I was going to sort out the papers I have laying around here... about a week ago. I mean, nothing's really "out of place" or anything like that, but I was hoping to just shift things around a bit. Instead I've... I have to confess. I've been so bored out of my mind and not having much to do that I've been watching... The B&B. I should be ashamed of myself. And I am. I'm now mentally a pensioner. Even the commercials I get during it are about menopause. Gods...

Why can't you be here already?

The eternal battle between Turku and Tampere

I was completely unaware of this battle until I moved to Tampere. Apparently there has been sort of a "my dad is stronger than your dad" competition going on between Turku and Tampere for however long. Years. Maybe decades? Maybe even longer. The competition rises about any given subject. Also, both cities (and their citizens) are trying to out do the other on a daily basis. If something great happened in Turku, something equally great must happen in Tampere as well - and fast. And the other way around.

Not too long ago the news mentioned that gold had been found underneath the city center of Tampere. Of course someone immediately needed to point out that oil had been found in Turku. Every Christmas both cities get a large Christmas tree for the city center - and every year it gets bigger and bigger because the cities are both trying to have the biggest, greatest tree in the country. Or at least bigger than in Turku. Or Tampere, depending on where you are. That was the first time actually that I became aware of this competition. When Tampere got it's last Christmas tree and it was national news that it was bigger than the tree in Turku.

Regularly people argue about which city is better at ice hockey. Which, as you know, is a big thing in Finland. Tampere has two teams in the top Finnish ice hockey league (Ilves & Tappara) where as Turku has one (TPS). People also regularly check which city has more residents. Apparently Tampere is leading this one too, by a hair. Turku argues that it's generally better because it's by the sea, where as Tampere "just" has a river. Apparently a lot of contests regularly go on between students (mainly engineers) as well.

Fascinating?

First rant of the week, since MY week begins on a Monday!

For some reason I didn't write anything on either of my blogs yesterday. I felt really strange all day, couldn't get anything done. I just sat and thought. About everything. At least I managed to make a to do -list:

• Check bank balance
• Mail the raffle wins (my Finnblog's raffle that is)
• Buy food & toilet paper
• Buy the cosmetics (razor, cleanser & toner, tweezers)
• Go through the newspapers (I've got a pile sitting in the closet...)
• Find out what to do with KELA
• Visit the health center & renew prescriptions
• Buy more asthma meds with the renewed presciption
• Charge phone
• Do something productive! (Like actually write the book...)
• Figure out how to put stuff on the walls with minimum hassle

Mind you, it'll take them five days to renew my prescription and then I have to go and physically get it back. Well, I guess I'll get a walk. So much for those "Hey, a new thing, you can renew prescriptions at the pharmacy!" -news. The lady at the health center was all like "That must be something from the future!"... Yeah right. Good thing it was already on the news and all as something that has been PASSED. Whatever.

Of course then there was the usual annoyance with KELA as with all things that involve bureaucracy (horrible word, just like the meaning)... But I ranted to you enough already about that over MSN. I've been ranting a lot lately, haven't I? Just like I've been learning new things with my spare time as I've had nothing better to do. I told you some of those yesterday. Like how grown women are far more into dolls and dollhouses than I could've ever imagined! And I thought I would be frowned upon for holding onto a Barbie!

After a weekend of Japan Japan Japan, I was trying to take a break from it yesterday. It was a moderate success. It's all that there is though, in the news. Japan. It is a giant disaster, that's for sure. But I can't help but to think if media is blowing it out of proportion just a little bit as they tend to do to sell more news... I think that some of the Finnish media has been guilty of that. And guilty of printing stuff without quite verifying how things went in the first place. I feel so weird about the Japan-situation anyway... even without the doomsayers.

This morning I entertained myself with some fantasies about spring/summertime dress up:

Funny seeing the shoes as large as the dress...

Well, you know me, of course I'm not going to rush out and buy high heel shoes, no matter what kind of a delicious powdery pink color they come in. I wouldn't be able to walk in them and I'd feel like an amazon. And well, that color would probably blend in with my skin too! But they sure are pretty... in all that simplicity. Speaking of amazons by the way, I think I walked past a strip club for amazons today... Can't be too sure, but it looked ominous with the red and black design - somehow a trademark for strip clubs and sex shops in this city.

That dress I would totally wear though. If I ever had the chance to go to a party...

I'm not a fantastic baker

Last night I told you that I was considering about starting to blog in English (again) just so that You could have a summary of my day, just like my Finnish readers can. What you didn't know was that I decided to write for You, "Letters To My Sweetheart". What could be better?

I struggled with the right name, as usual, when suddenly this just popped into my mind. It made perfect sense. You are my most loyal and devoted reader by far (and quite possibly the only one), so why not just write to You? I'm not too talented with romance, but even I rank this one to the top of romantic things I've done in my life... though this may also be the only one. On the bright side, I've heard that men aren't really that big on romance anyway, so perhaps this does not qualify as a flaw in my case.

I'm, however, not a fantastic baker.

You know, I decided to try a new recipe today. You'd never guess what it was based on the pictures, which in this case are not worth a thousand words. I told you what it was supposed to be, but come on... I had a hard time presenting this... thing... to my guests.

Not too tasty-looking, right?

It's supposed to be some sort of an apple pie, but come to think of it, it'd be better off named "applemush", as that was largely what it resembled. At least the taste was great and it seems to only get better as it's spending some quality time in the depths of my fridge. My quests kindly told me that it was very good, but I'm not 100% convinced. You know how paranoid I am about my baking (and cooking).

I didn't really do much else today than try to make the place ready for the guests and bake stuff. Not the worst way to spend a Sunday, I'll give you that, but it would've been better to just get to spend it with You. This was now my second Sunday alone, since I returned from my trip to the States and in a way this was better. I also finally got some good sleep last night, instead of tossing and turning through it, so that's a plus. I try to think of small things to do to keep myself busy so that I wouldn't miss you all the damn time, but I just feel all wonky. In a way, I'm quite happy and content but at the same time there's just this really annoying feeling that I have, that something is just missing. A feeling of restlessness and... dare I say, despair. I've never felt quite so alone, oddly enough.

I'm sure I'll feel better over time again.

And hopefully it won't have to be that long of a time now.

I think I'd like to live in a house of tulips.

I bought the yellow ones on Friday (I think I told you) and the pink ones I just got as a present today. And I did manage to toss the old pink ones when I got back from visiting my parents. I didn't like doing it though. You know how I am with tossing away flowers. I feel as if I should hold a funeral. I need you here to toss away my dead flowers and tell me that my crappy pie tastes great.